Holy men bare all on India's streets ahead of the festival of Maha Kumbh

With half-naked holy men and ritual bathing en masse in the river Ganges, India's Maha Kumbh festival is a religious spectacular like none other.

Celebrated every 12 years in its complete form, the Hindu festival of Mahakumbh or Maha Kumbh can involve upwards of 70 million people who all head to the river Ganges to bathe and cleanse themselves from sin.

These holy men and women called naga sadhu (men) and naga sadhvi (women) have renounced all their worldly possessions to live nomadic lives in temples, forests and caves across India and Nepal.

They are pictured as they journey across the country before the commencement of the epic festival that is Maha Kumbh, in which millions of practicing Hindus take part. Though only the holy men bare all for the duration of this festival.

India Kumbh FestivalSource:AP

The festival itself is said to date back to at least 600 AD.

In 2007 over 21 million Hindus attending the festival across 45 days, which was at the time one of the largest Hindi gatherings ever seen.